Refrigerator-car.



N 881 902. PATENTED MAR.17 190a.

M. coornn.

REFRIGERATOR GAR.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 2, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 881,902. PATENTED MAR. 17, 1908. M. COOPER. REFRIGERATOR CAR.

APPLIOATION FILED my 2. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mlw-imlm PER - orator-Cars,

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MADISON COOPER, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

REFRIGERATOR-OAR. d

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MADISON COOPER, of Minneapolis, in the county ofHennepin, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refri of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in refrigerator cars, and theobject of the inventlon is to provide arefrigerator car of simple andinex ensive construction in which a complete an uniform circulation ofthe air through the body of the car will be secured.

The invention consists. generally in the constructions and combinations,hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in'Ithe filaims. d3 fn t e accom' any' awin s, orming part of this specificat i o n; Figure lis a longitudinal vertical section of a refrigeratorcar embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the aircooling chamber and ice receptacle. Fig. 3 is a transverse section throuthe car. Figs. 4 and '5 are etails. Fig. 5 being an enlarged crosssection of plate 29.

In the drawings, 1 represents the bod ofthe car which may be of anypreferred or usual construction. The walls of the car are preferablyprovided with suitable non-conducting material preventing the admissionof heated air through the walls of the car. The car is preferablyprovided with a perforated false floor 3, arranged a short distanceabove the main floor 2 and preferably made in sections so as to beremoved in order to permit the cleansing of the car, also to permit thecar to be used for other purposes.

The sections may be made. so as to e removable from the car body or, asshown in Fi 3, each section may be hinged at 5 to the Weill of the carso as to be capable of being turned into a vertical position against theside wall of the car in which position the sections may be secured by ansuitable means. Each section is provided below the perforated floor witha series of longitudinal strips 6 which form supports for the floor andalso provide air ducts below the floor, permitting the free circulationof the air lengthwise of the car below the floor.

At each end of the car, I prefer to provide an air cooling chamber,preferably formed by a transverse partition 9 that extends across thecar at a suitable distance from the end Specification of Letters Patent.Application filed May 2, 1908. Serial No. 155,290.

ble of being turned u ward to ably formed of wire netting h the body ofPatented March 17, 1908.

and partitions off a space at the end of the car. The partition 9 doesnot extend uite to the roof of the car nor to the bottom 0 the caralthou h its lower end is below the level of the per orated floor 3. Iprefer to. provide a ed section 11 at the lower edge of the crosspartition 9, this section being capaermit access to the lower part of te air coo ing chamber when it is desired to clean the same. Arrangedwithin the air cooling chamber, preferably at each end of the car, is anice bunker or receptacle 13. This receptacle is preferand is supportedupon suitable bars 15 and 17. The ice rece tacle is open at the top andaccess ma e had th'ereto through a suitable door 19 w ich may be removedwhen desired for permitting g'the receptacle with ice. The icereceptacle is smaller than the air cooling chamber so that a clear spaceis left all around the ice receptacle between its Walls and theinnerwall of the air cooling room. Surrounding the ice receptacle andbetween said recepe tacle and the walls of air cooling room, I refer toarrange the metallic plates 21. T ese plates are preferablyver-tically'arranged with, a space between each plate and the wall of athe air cooling room and with a space also between each late and thewire nett' forming the wal of the ice receptacle. There is, therefore, aclear space for the passage of air between each of these lates and thewall of the air cooling room an; another space between each plate andthe ice rece tacle.

Arranged in the lower part of t e air cooling chamber, is a trough orgutter 23 extending transversely of the car and connecting with a wastepi e 25 provided'with a suitable trap 27 at its ower end. In order toconduct the water that drips from the ice rece tacle into this trough Iinclined plates 29 and versely of the car body and are arranged toconduct the Water into said trough. These plates are preferablycorrugated as shown in detail in F1 5, so as to prevent spattering ofthe water t at drips upon them. The water passes into the recessesformed by the corrugations and runnin down such recesses passes into thetroug or gutter by which it 1s conducted to the waste pipe 25. Theinclined plate 29, which is nearest the end of the car, is preferably ofgreater height than the plate 31 arranged between the tron h and thebody of the car. This plate is near y prefer to provide t e 31 thatextend. transthrou fiat solthat it'forms a continuation of the floor ofthe car. This leaves-ya free space for the assage of air from theaircooling room beow'the partition 9 and into the space below theperforated false floor 3 (see Fig. 4). This arrangement also permitsdrainin any water that may get onto the floor of t e car into the gutter23, the floor 2 being inclined in opposite directions from the center ofthe car towards the ends. I also prefer to provide a transversedeflectin plate 33 arranged above the plate 31 and be ow the portion ofthe ice receptacle that is towards the body of the car. This late tendsto deflect the water that dri' s om that side of the ice receptacle andto irect it into the gutter 23.

I also prefer to provide the car body with a perforated false ceiling35, preferabl made in two sections, one at either side of t e dooropening and the space above this false ceiling communicates with the aircooling room h the open space above the partition 9 (see ig. 1). Theceiling 36 above the false ceiling is preferably inclined so that theair space above the false ceiling increases in size towards the aircooling room thus permitting free passage of the air.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The ice bunkers orreceptacles are su plied with ice through the door 19 and t e car beingloaded and closed, the cold air flows down through the air cooling roomand ice receptacle and asses into the space beneath the erforated alsefloor 3. It travels along in t s space and rising through theerforations, travels upwards the car to t e false ceiling into the spaceabove such ceiling and along in said space over the top of the artition9 and enters the upper part of t e air cooling chamber. A circulation ofair is thus obtained downward through the air coolin chamber. under thefalse floor, upwar through the erforations' in said floor, through theb0 y of the car, through the perforations inthe false ceiling, along thespace above such ceiling and into the up er. part of the air coolingroom. The ice' ein surrounded by a wire netting only, as t e air passesdownward, along and through the ice receptacle, it is cooled by beingbrought in a direct contact with the ice. A portion of the air passesthrough the space between the plate 21 and the wall of the air coolinchamer and therefore in contact with suc 1 plate 21. A portion of theair also passes between said plate and the ice receptacle. As the icebecomes melted from absorption of heat, the water drips from the icerece taele onto the plates 33, 29 and 31, which argely increase theeffective cooling surfaces, and is conducted into the trough or gutter23 from which it passes through the waste pipe 25. This operation iscontinued at each end of the car so long as an ice remains in the icebunkers or receptac es. By this means a rapid cooling of the air isobtained and a thorough and uniform circulation throu hout the body ofthe car. Any water or ot ier liquid that gets onto the floor of the carwill pass into t e gutter and out through the drain pipe. The interiorof the car can also be washed or flooded and the water will be carriedoff through the gutter.

I claim as my nvent1on:

1. The combination, in a refri erator car, with an air cooling room ateac end, of a main floor inclined in opposite directions from thecenter, a perforated false floor arran ed above said main floor,suitable gutters at t e ends of the main floor, a main ceiling inclinedin op osite directions from the center towards t e ends of the car, anda perforated false ceiling arranged below said main ceiling,substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a refrigerator car provided with an air coolingroom at each end, of a main floor, a perforated false floor arrangedabove said main floor, a main ceiling inclined in opposite directionsfrom the center to the ends of the car, and a perforated false ceilinarranged below said main ceiling, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of March,1903.

- MADISON COOPER.

In presence of-.

A. 0. PAUL, C. G. HANSON.

